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Sep 05, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Belle and Sebastian

It was announced last year that Scotland’s Belle and Sebastian would be providing the score for the indie film Days of the Bagnold Summer and the soundtrack is due out September 13 via Matador. Now they have shared another song from it, “This Letter.” Listen below.

Previously the band shared the album’s first single, “Sister Buddha,” via a video for the track. It was one of our Songs of the Week.

The film is the directorial debut of Simon Bird, an actor and comedian known for his role as Will McKenzie in The Inbetweeners TV and movie series. The movie is based on a 2012 graphic novel of the same name by Joff Winterhart and is due out in 2020.

A previous press release described the plot of Days of the Bagnold Summer as such: “It’s a tender, touching and acutely observed coming-of-age story, which tells of a heavy-metal-loving teenager’s holiday plans falling through at the last minute, leading to him having to spend the summer with the person who annoys him most in the world: his mum.”

Nick Cave’s teenage son, Earl Cave (The End of the F***ing World), stars as the teenager in the film. Monica Dolan (Eye in the Sky) plays the mum (who’s a librarian) and the film also stars Rob Brydon (The Trip), Tamsin Greig (Second Best Marigold Hotel), Alice Lowe (Prevenge), and Elliot Speller-Gillot (Uncle).

In the previous press release Murdoch admitted that he wasn’t aware of the original graphic novel before Bird approached the band to soundtrack the movie version. “But its style and its atmosphere set me off straight away,” he said. “I read it on a Friday, and by Monday I pretty much had all my ideas lined up. What was great was that Simon hadn’t shot anything then. You want to get in early, because that way you can start having late night conversations with the director about The Graduate, or whatever. We all have fantasies about those great movies of the ‘60s and the ‘70s. If you going to get involved with a project like this, you want to do it right.”

The soundtrack features re-recorded versions of two previous Belle and Sebastian songs: “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying” (from 1996’s sophomore album If You’re Feeling Sinister) and “I Know Where The Summer Goes” (from the 1998 EP This is Just a Modern Rock Song). “Simon was adamant he wanted to use it. He’s a proper fan of the group,” said Murdoch about “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying.”

The origins of one of the tracks, “Safety Valve,” date back even further. “That one’s ancient,” said Murdoch. “It predates the band; it’s maybe 25 years old. The only time I can remember ever playing it was in a coffee shop with a friend of mine, and people scratching their heads. There was only a verse and a chorus, so I went back to it, and revised the words. It’s a simple song about being over-reliant on a particular person - probably my girlfriend at the time. But it seems to work okay here, too.”

In terms of releasing a soundtrack vs. a regular album, Murdoch commented: “Everything we do that becomes an album is a big deal for us. We’re quietly pleased with how the collaboration went, but the truth is that you don’t know what’s going to happen when it goes out into the world, and people hear it.”

The band’s Sarah Martin added: “It’s more consistent, probably, than most of our albums. Soundtracks are a deeper cut. They’re not a big pop statement.”

In late 2017 and early 2018 Belle and Sebastian released three interconnected EPs via Matador, all titled How to Solve Your Human Problems. How to Solve Your Human Problems Part 1 came out in December 2017, Part 2 came out in January 2018, and Part 3 came out in February 2018. Then all three EPs were collected in a vinyl box set and CD compilation that also came out in February 2018.

Read our interview with Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch on How to Solve Your Human Problems.

Read our review of How to Solve Your Human Problems.

Belle and Sebastian Tour Dates:

Oct 31, L’Aéronef, Lille, France
Nov 1 Pitchfork Music Festival, Paris, France
Nov 2, Le Krakatoa, Mérignac, France
Nov 3, Le Bikini, Toulouse, France
Nov 4 Baluarte, Pamplona, Spain
Nov 6 Aula Magna, Lisbon, Portugal
Nov 8 Primavera Weekender, Benidorm Spain

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